ABSTRACT
This chapter discusses how the generation of local knowledge' using an ethnographic approach can be used in social development to ensure that programming is meaningful, impactful and responsible towards programme beneficiaries. It focuses on empirical research experiences in Rwanda aimed at understanding girls' emotional, rational and practical realities to inform the design of girl empowerment programmes. Using the case study, the chapter demonstrates how an understanding of important cultural concepts can help make sense of findings about girls' daily lives. It shows how this local knowledge has the potential to make the difference between programme success and failure in terms of making programmes locally effective and meaningful. The chapter shows how, without local knowledge, research data is cast in a different light and not sufficiently based in the cultural logic of girls involved in this research. It elaborates on these issues in the context of local knowledge about agaciro and highlights the problems with current styles of evidence-based programming.
